Rewards or incentives
Thu, 09/29/2011 - 15:56 — Lara
In the Caring Teacher's Guide to Discipline, Gootman warns against using planned rewards too often, but she agrees that they have their place when offered as a temporary means of changing a problem behavior. If using rewards, they should be carefully selected and the intention should be to gradually eliminate the incentive altogether. She warns that they can be addictive and that physical rewards can get in the way of students being able to see the internal/natural benefits that come from reading a good book or treating others with respect if their expectation is to always get "paid" for doing these things.
She warns against using junk food as the reward since this becomes a double standard as we encourage our students to eat healthy snacks.
What do you think? Is there a place or a time for reward systems? Why or why not? When or when not?